Food: Acadia Gears Up for Fourth Annual Gumbo Weekend

Portland, OR — Acadia Bistro chef/owner Seamus Foran is keeping the gumbo tradition alive for its fourth year in a row, presenting Gumbo Weekend Friday and Saturday, November 16 and 17, 2018.  In honor of the Treme Gumbo Festival in New Orleans, the restaurant will serve a flight of gumbos for guests to enjoys for a limited time.  The trio of gumbos include:

Seafood Gumbo – Acadia’s “go-to” gumbo and the version most popular in New Orleans, the dish is made with a dark roux, providing the depth of flavor that gumbo is known for, balanced by a combination of shellfish and chicken stock.  Acadia will serve its seafood gumbo with shrimp, crawfish and Louisiana blue crab.

Country Gumbo – This style of gumbo is from the southwestern region of Louisiana and is more of a thick tomato-based stew. Occasionally seafood will be included, but a more typical recipe (and the one chef Seamus will use) features chicken and andouille sausage.

Gumbo Z’herbs – This version of gumbo became popular with the Catholics in southern Louisiana. Served during the Lent, it traditionally contained no meat, though ironically it did involve a stock made from smoked ham hocks. Z’herbs is made with any kind of green leaf-like vegetable one can find: kale, mustard greens, collards, chards, turnip tops, carrot tops, beet tops, radish tops, cabbage, lettuces and spinach can all be used. As Lenten restrictions lightened in the past few generations, this dish lost popularity. But Seamus is happy to offer it to balance out the other heavier gumbos with a hit of vegetables.

Behind the bar, manager Dan DuFour has been busy creating fall cocktails fit for Portland’s cooler evenings. New drinks include:

“Brush Fire” – Vodka, citrus, ginger, soda, pomegranate and torched thyme

“Nothing Toulouse” – Peppercorn gin, cranberry cordial, lemon, sparkling wine

“Far from the Tree” – Apple brandy, creole bitters, ginger

About Acadia

Located in the Sabin/Irvington neighborhood of Portland, Acadia has been serving modern American cuisine rooted in Louisiana food traditions since 2001.  The restaurant uses locally-grown fruits, vegetables and meats, as well as exclusively wild caught seafood from the Gulf coast and Pacific Northwest.  The restaurant is located at 1303 NE Fremont St. in Portland.  For reservations, please call (503) 249-5001.  www.acadiapdx.com.